Reviews by bnes09:

Nice dark copper and ruby color, nearly opaque. Pours a light tan head which leaves a thin blanket of foam and some sticky lacing. Simply a beatiful brew.

Smell is sweet and roasted. Lots of coffee and chocolate and very inviting.

Flavor is sweet upfront with sour hints. Malt provides some molasses notes as well as cherry and prune juice for a very complex sweetness. Next, the roasted character comes forward full force to complement the coffee and cocoa in the nose. Some floral hop oils come to life as well. The sweet, sour, and bitter roasted characters seem to contrast eachother in a brawl for dominance which make for an interesting taste. Aftertaste is bitter and roasted.

Medium to full-bodied brew with mild carbonation and a dry texture in the aftertaste.

Difficult to put this one down. The dry finish and complex flavors make it impossible to resist another sip. The thickness, however, would make it difficult to put down more than 2 or 3 of these in a sitting.

Overall, its an exceptional porter and probably the best I've had so far of the style.

More User Reviews:

The aroma and taste have their similarities, herbal with a light nuttiness, chocolate, and vanilla in the fade. More vanilla in the fade, not unlike cream soda. The mouthfeel has a medium body and a nice, creamy, dry finish. It's a good start overall, easy to drink, but just needs more in the aroma and flavor department. If they could focus more on the chocolaty, vanilla aspect and expand on that, maybe through in a touch more roast for balance. A good beginner porter.

Plowboy is a rich amber color with not much visible carbonation in the clear brew. The head is spongy and khaki with ok retention. An average start at best.

The scent is only slitly better with a chocolate and coffee character but very muted and soft. So far the volume on this porter is turned way down.

The taste is intesting, it is kind of like a sweeter, less creamy version of Guinness. There is a nice rich toastiness to the grains which deals out some great coffee and chocolate flavors. A very savory beer that tastes much better then it smells.

Slick on the palate with soft hints of carbonation. The smoothness accents the rich flavor and helps with the mouthfeel but I feel a little more carbonation could balance the richness with some acidity. Not a bad beer despite the rocky start.

Appearance-Dark brown with faint reddish highlights and good clarity. Moderately large tan head with moderately good retention.

Aroma-Diacetyl. Popcorn butter and butterscotch. Underneath the buttery assault, I catch notes of chocolate and roast with a hint of caramel. Slight fruity esters and low hopping also apparent.

Flavor-Buttery opening gives way to roast malt and chocolate before closing with more butterscotch, in a strange sort of buttery roasty kind of way. Im having trouble picking up any sort of nuances in the flavor due to the diacetyl.

Mouthfeel-Medium body, moderate carbonation. Relatively smooth with a definite slickness from the diacetyl.

This is probably not a bad beer on the whole. Unfortunately I have a very low diacetyl threshold, so this comes across mostly as butter and butterscotch to me, in both the aroma and the flavor. I can tell that there are some nice roasted flavors underneath the butter, but I really can't pick them out very well. Unfortunate.

T: Toasty malt & burnt grain, plus a touch brown sugar & herbal hops up front. Toasty malt asserts as this warms, a bit of astringency at the edges. Finishes dry with some coffee ground notes & some brown sugar sweetness. This almost makes me think American Brown ale to be honest...

MF: Light bodied up front, thickens up as it warms. Okay balance

Drinks alright seemed to get better as it warmed. Will revisit it in a few days to see if my opinion of it changes. For right now this screams AVERAGE at best porter. I will probably hold out until a see the rest of this brewery's offerings a part of a mixed sixer

A- Poured a medium brown color with hints of amber hues when held to the light. One and a half finger light tan head shows medium retention. Light streaks of lace on the sides of the glass.

S- Roasted malts come off first with a light nutty aroma. Coffee and light chocolate comes through next with hints of almost citrus like hops. Not a strong alcohol presence in the ending which helps bring this one full forward.

T- Roasted malts in the front of the beer. Hints of light nuts come back in the ending front for me. Middle of the beer shows a darker bready malt which also shows a light chocolate hint. Ending is more roasted malts which blend together nicely with a hint of citrus hop and light warming alcohol.

M- Light mouthfeel. Carbonation is good for the style. Roasted malts, light nutty flavor, and hint of chocolate are left on the palate. Aftertaste is mostly alcohol, roasted malts and light citrus hops. Flavors were well balanced for the style I thought. Light metallic off flavor when the beer warmed toward the ending but this even blended a little bit with the overall beer flavor. Alcohol drying on the palate is light with each sip.

O- This beer is overall a pleasant surprise. A very nice drinking porter which I would have no problem drinking again and again. The ABV is low enough to drink a couple of pints of this. Flavors were well balanced for the style I thought.

Creamy khaki foam tops off this American Porter, the surface has a light sheen to it, forming uneven crags and peaks that push above the rim. Sticky lacing is left all around, clumped in almost cartoonish 3-D. It has strong staying power. Cola ruby color in the light, with slow trails of carbonation.

Aroma is straight up malty, nothing especially roasty about it, but ok. Flavor is somewhat mild, some really vague bitterness in the end, but mostly a bready malt middle. Feel is light, it's fairly well carbonated. Aftertaste is dry and bready, not sweet and fairly traditional overall. Easy drinking, not very complex, a simple session candidate.

T: Roasted malt and cocoa flavors show up, but again they're fairly subtle. The nutty flavors are a bit stronger here, and again there's that red Twizzlers flavor. The finish is somewhat bitter and roasted.

M: Medium body with mid-high sudsy carbonation, this beer feels almost like a root beer, but it works.

O: An interesting, but decent porter. It's more like a brown ale to me than a porter, but still is pretty decent.

Clear, reddish brown with a creamy tan head that leaves scraps of lace on the glass. Anise, bubblegum and roasted malt notes in the aroma. Smoky black licorice and coffee with chocolate and cocoa powder. Light bodied and smooth. A nice porter that doesn't stray from the traditional qualities of the style.

T: Slightly bitter roasted pecan shells, and a touch of a hop bite. Slight sweetness, in the form at the tea from the nose.

M: A little bit of a shallow, washed-out feel. Light, bitter finish.

D: Pretty much a session style experience.

Atmosphere is fair. Not much to look at... no real head, and no lacing. Nose is a pretty solid combination of nutty, bitter, and sweet components. Flavor is roasted nut, with a bit of a hop bite, and some inert sweetness. Overall, this is a decent quaff.

Pours a moderate cola-brown & settles much the same. Whoops; after way too aggressive of a pour, I'm left with three fingers of tan head trying to crest the top of the glass & several ounces remaining in the bottle. After a few minutes the head dissipates to about 1/8 inch & the rest of the beer is poured. Lacing is very good throughout.

The general aroma seems pretty good. Comprising a smooth blend of dark malts, there are notes of chocolate, & roasted malts. It seems to thrive on subtleties. Maybe a faint spot of hops, but not much. Basically standard-fare for a porter, near as I can tell.

The taste is definitely a step up though similar in nature to the nose. Thankfully there is a bit more hop presence that, while still restrained, does offer a counterpoint to the malt sweetness that follows. Swaths of chocolate & roasted dark malts account for the sweetness. A touch of caramel meanders about. It's rather simple but well done. Come to think of it, it seems to dry up toward the end.

Medium to full body with appropriate carbonation that falls just shy of moderate; just enough prickliness is present to keep the beer lively. It finishes surprisingly dry with a hint of bitterness.

Drinkability is very good; this is an enjoyable porter without a doubt. It's simple in nature & all the more solid because of it. I would have no reservations about getting some more the next time I find myself in the distribution area.

I dunno why, but "plowboy" sounds like either a sex move or some sort of anti-farmer slur... Anyway, this stuff pours a clear burnt sienna topped by a short finger of off-cream-white foam. The nose is mostly wet cardboard, though a touch of mild brown sugar, honey, and very light roasted malts comes through hazed, jumbled, clearly post-scuffle. The taste is dryly sweet, like old graham crackers, with its own force of cardboard. There's almost no roast here, save for a fossil found in the depths. The body is a light medium, with a moderate carbonation and a sorta/kinda dry finish. Overall, a weak porter, more like a nut brown, if anything. In any case, I won't be seeking this one out again.

Pours a cloudy dark brown with a brown more prevalent along the edges and bottom of the glass. One inch head of a pale tan color. Good retention and decent lacing. Smells of roasted malt, sweet malt, chocolate, and slight hops. Fits the style of an American Porter. Mouth feel is smooth and slightly thick with a low carbonation level. There is a bitterness present. Tastes of roasted malt, decent amount of hops, and slight sweet malt (mostly chocolate). Overall, a great blend of flavors with easy drinkability, low bitterness, and good body.

12oz bottle poured into a snifter. Bottle generously provided by MilwaukeeCrusher as an extra, thanks!

A - Pours a deep chocolate brown with ruby undertones too it. Not unlike the Avery Old Jubilation I just had, just a shade darker. Only about a half-finger of light tan head with okay retention. The lacing at first begins promising, but actually fades quickly and leaves almost no trace of foam.

S - Pretty unique nose on this that's for sure...it has a bit of roast to it, but then it goes to an almost lactose sugar state that reminds me of chocolate milk. Takes a little to get used to, but I can't say it's not enjoyable as it warms. Unfortunately getting some diacetyl here in the tune of butterscotch.

T - A light roast opening in the taste gives way to a fairly sweet chocolate flavor that lasts into the finish. The roast gives off some coffee, and there are some candied raisins in here as well. Unfortunately, once the diacetyl makes itself known its almost impossible to shake the impression of it, so the back-end is nearly completely doused with the buttery notes.

M - Mouthfeel is medium-bodied with decent carbonation. The label is correct in pegging this as creamy, and the flavors leave a slightly roasty bitterness in the finish.

D/O - Drinkability is moderate. I am torn on this beer; at first it's only mediocre, but as it warms it really starts to come into its own. However, the temperature change sparks the characteristics of diacetyl, so it really only has a small sweet spot during which I enjoyed the beer. Unfortunate, but diacetyl has claimed better beers than this (I'm looking at you, Rochefort), so I guess it's only fair...

12 oz bottle poured into a standard shaker pint. Tall two and a half finger width of light tan head. The head has a chunky and sticky texture and leaves moderate lacing. Color at first seems a solid dark brown, yet when held to the light it reveals a dense clarity and a reddish brown color.

Smell has an earthy herbal aroma. I get sarsaparilla and licorice with a chocolate malt background. Taste is not as sweet as the smell. It is more bitter and herbal. It could be that the herbal quality is just more intense. Still very earthy with a little hint of mint. Chocolate malt still keeps balance.

Mouthfeel is on the light creamy side. Not overly filling, actually pretty satisfying texture. The herbal quality is an interesting take on the porter. This is a good one to give a try.

T: A classic brown porter (BJCP style 12A), which isn't very popular or widespread among American brewers even though it’s a favorite style of mine. Nice solid roasty body that is slightly bitter cocao, but since its not too intense it stays balanced. The flavor is dominated by caramel toasty grains. More amaretto, and marzipan from the nose, almost hinting at candied cherries. Slightly sweet which is barely more intense than evident bitterness. Very unique profile that’s light and heavy at the same time. Somewhat creamy with a finish that has notes of marshmallow topped irish coffee, and is smooth but not very roasty with a clean lightly roasted coffee note and heaps of caramel.

Notes: A very unique take on the porter that fits the definition of the style but is very interesting. I'm not crazy about the amaretto note, however.